Never Complain About Low-Fat Food Again!

Healthy foods that taste better than the fried version! Yeah, right. But there are ways to fool your brain and stomach

You’ve probably fallen into the trap of cooking up a healthier version of a favorite guilty pleasure only to be disappointed when the first bite tastes like cardboard. But it’s possible to give your mind and taste buds a fake-out, reports a new University of Colorado study.

Researchers served test meals of meatloaf with gravy, broccoli and cauliflower in butter sauce, and penne with creamy white sauce to 148 men and women between the ages of 18 and 65. Over the course of a few days, participants ate a full-fat, reduced-fat, and reduced-fat with added spice version of the meal and rated their enjoyment and each of the meal’s components. It turns out participants enjoyed the reduced-fat meal with added spices as much as the full-fat version.

That’s good news if you’re trying to punch up the enjoyment of your trimmed-up diet without adding much to your meal, but when people rated the separate dishes in the meal, they weren’t feeling the spiced-up version quite as much as the full-fat fare.

This is probably because enjoying savory foods is less about the flavor and more about the way the food feels in your mouth, which spices can’t quite mimic, says study author John C. Peters, Ph.D. “We all know that low-fat or fat-free ice cream just isn’t the same as the real thing,” Peters says. “But herbs and spices can work especially well on the everyday items like lean meats and vegetables.”

You don’t need a cabinet filled with the most exotic spices to improve the pleasure factor of most foods. Peters suggest having these common spices handy: garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, cilantro, cinnamon, and cayenne.

For a dish like lean meatloaf, try adding savory herbs—oregano, parsley, and garlic, for instance—for a richer mouthfeel, suggests Rocco DiSpirito, celebrity chef and author of The Pound A Day Diet. He also recommends adding nutmeg to mashed potatoes for added depth without loading on butter, and mustard powder can provide a rich, full-fat taste when you’re making healthier macaroni and cheese.